In this episode of the Texan Recap, Audio Staffer Emma Rikalo discusses the suspension of the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Committee back in April and the steps the student is taking. Senior Audio Producer, Elijah Carll discusses Texas basketball transfer Arthur Kaluma. Hosted by Emma Rikalo and Elijah Carll. Edited by Elijah Carll. Cover art by Emma Berke. Music by Top Flow Productions.

Elijah Carll: On this episode of the Texan Recap, General Audio Staffer Emma Rikalo discusses the suspension of the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Committee for his participation in the April 24 demonstration on campus. Plus, Senior Audio Producer Elijah Carll talks about the newest addition to the Texas basketball team, Arthur Kaluma, and what fans can expect with a senior forward player.

Emma Rikalo: The University of Texas suspended Palestinian Solidarity Committee leader Ammer Qaddumi this Wednesday for his participation in a pro Palestinian protest in April. He has filed a motion in federal court asking for a judge to stop the university from enforcing suspension, which would be in place until August 2025.

Here with the story is senior news reporter Maryam Ahmed. Maryam, thanks for joining us.

Maryam Ahmed: Thank you for having me.

Emma: So, the leader of the Palestinian Solidarity Committee has filed to ask a federal judge to prevent the university from enforcing the suspension. Could you walk us through what’s been going on in terms of disciplinary action against him by the university since the demonstration in April?

Maryam: Yeah, so it’s been kind of a lengthy process. It’s been a lot of bureaucratic stuff, but I’ll try to hit all the main points. So as far as the timeline goes, he was arrested on, on April 24th at a pro-Palestine demonstration. Um, he was, he was released the next day and his charges were dropped, but, um, then, later in July, the university sent him a notice saying we’re taking disciplinary action against you and they gave him a sanction of suspension.

He then appealed that sanction and, um, he had a hearing that spanned, um, around 10 hours and, and he got the sanction dropped to just a deferred suspension and he had to take like an ethical decision-making seminar. But, um, But then once that decision came out, um, the student office, uh, or [00:02:00] the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity appealed that decision and the, and the, and the Dean of Students then heard that appeal and changed their decision to a suspension.

And so he is now suspended for three academic semesters until August 2025. He can’t enter campus and he can’t receive any credit for coursework.

Emma: Yeah. So looking back at the events of last spring, what did he means participation in the demonstrations actually look like? What were his interactions with police at the time?

And has the university specified what conduct they objected to?

Maryam: Yeah. So, um, I’m just going to give you kind of what I saw and then I’ll tell you what the university has been claiming throughout this. So what I saw was, um, was in the minutes before he was arrested. Um, he was actually working with police.

With police to try to figure out the best way to follow their orders from from what I saw literally minutes before he was arrested. He was telling people guys disperse will figure out another way updates to come. And [00:03:00] then somewhere out of nowhere, police started grabbing him and they arrested him. That is what I saw on that day.

And then What the university says is that, um, is that the Dean of Students had sent PSC a notification the night before saying that they couldn’t have the demonstration and PSC went on with it anyways, which is, which shows like a failure to comply and they said that, and they said that the demonstration itself showed an intention to disrupt campus activities, which is why they prevented it in the first place.

So, um, That’s essentially what they’re saying, that, that he A. disrupted campus and B. failed to comply with university officials and law enforcement.

Emma: So how has his experience compared to that of the other UT students who participated in demonstrations?

Maryam: Well, um, his role is obviously unique because he is an organizer, but, um, most of the other, uh, protesters who face sanctions from the university Got either a deferred suspension or an academic probation, [00:04:00] although I know, although I know of at least one other student who was suspended, who was, who was not an organizer, but his is definitely a more unique situation because of the fact that he’s an organizer and because of the fact that he has an active, uh, lawsuit against UT Hartzell and former provost Sharon Wood in federal court.

So, um, his suspension is definitely made unique by those factors.

Emma: So going into, um, those suits that he has filed, what legal action has he tried to take in the past and what does his current suit entail?

Maryam: Yes, so, um, back in late August he filed a, um, Uh, he filed a lawsuit in federal court against, uh, UT, um, Jay Hartzell and Sharon Wood, basically saying that they violated his right to free speech.

And at the time, what he asked for was for the university to halt all disciplinary proceedings against him. He, uh, He requested a restraining order from the judge, [00:05:00] and the judge denied his restraining order, saying that because he hadn’t actually sustained any injury, injury being used in a very legal sense, meaning he, meaning he hadn’t actually faced any consequences yet, so he, so the judge said that because He hadn’t faced any consequences, he hadn’t sustained any injuries that, that, um, that the university can continue with its proceedings.

But now that he has actually been suspended, he’s filed for another motion, um, for the judge to prevent the university from enforcing the suspension.

Emma: Yeah, so this conversation is happening Monday morning. The university has until 5 p. m. today to file a response to Kadumi’s motion. Do you have a sense of what kind of response we can maybe expect from the university or of how this case will likely move forward?

Maryam: Yeah, so I’d like to preface this by saying that this is going to be pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that it will be A lot of restating some of, like, the same claims for why they suspended [00:06:00] him in the first place, but, um, at the moment, it’s not the university’s response that I’m looking at as much as the judge’s decision because now that he’s actually been suspended, there’s more of a sense of urgency for a judge to actually put out a decision on Um, either granting or denying his motion to prevent the university from enforcing the suspension.

As far as what a university response look, will look like, I don’t really know, but um, the whole point of university response to that motion is for the judge to essentially have all his options and, and, and be able to like, and be able to weigh both sides.

Emma: Thank you so much for joining us today, Maryam.

Maryam: Thank you so much for having me.

Elijah: Playing in one conference of any sport at the collegiate level might sound daunting to most of us. Senior Arthur Kaluma, a forward player joining the Texas basketball team this season, can say he’s played in three when he appears on court next Monday. So, for a player that’s really been all around, What’s next?

Here with the story and more is Lauren Hightower, senior sports reporter. Lauren, thanks for coming on.

Lauren Hightower: Oh, thank you for having me.

Elijah: So, tell me more about Kaluma’s journey throughout his time in collegiate basketball. What made you decide to specifically focus the story on him?

Lauren: Well, I think he’s just a really interesting, uh, player, because he’s been in three different conferences throughout his whole collegiate playing career.

So, he started off in the, um, playing at Creighton University, um, which is in the big, uh, Big East Conference. And then, um, his, uh, And then in his junior year, he transferred to Kansas State, um, which is in the Big 12. And so, um, both at Creighton and at Big 12, he actually got to [00:08:00] play against Texas at Moody.

Uh, so I thought it was really interesting that, like, he chose to come here for his last season, um, and just get to play at Moody again for the rest of the season.

Elijah: Yeah, you know, reading through that article, it sounded like that was a very impactful experience for him getting to play at that, uh, arena for the first time.

And now, you know, as a member of the Texas basketball team, uh, getting to practice there all the time, that must be incredible. Um, how would you describe Kaluma’s goals as a player for what he wants to accomplish on the court? What is he Looking to accomplish as a teammate in Texas basketball this season.

Lauren: Yeah I mean, I think that a lot of the guys that are older they’re really just looking to get far in the March Madness bracket That’s kind of something that’s been consistent with all of the older guys. Like they’re not really wanting to have as many like individual goals met. It’s more of, how can I get the team the furthest that they can get?

Um, so for him, um, he mentioned that he’s a really, really good rebounder. He’s really good at, um, you know, just bringing energy on the court whenever he gets on. So, I think that he’ll, he’ll be a good rebounder. be able to help the team in that way as they move forward. Especially their, um, their first game is on this next, this next Monday.

So there it’s starting to ramp up. They’ve had a couple of secret scrimmages, so yeah.

Elijah: I’m going to have to watch that. So Kaluma has obviously had this, um, Almost Forrest Gump like journey through, you know, collegiate basketball. I mean, he’s played in three different conferences, uh, which I don’t think a lot of players can say that they’ve done that.

Uh, it’s, it’s sort [00:10:00] of like, uh, you know, uh, traveling or, you know, swimming around the world. It’s like you’ve been everywhere. Right. Uh, so out of these three conferences that Kaluma has played in just from your experiences, which do you think has been his favorite thus far?

Lauren: I mean, I think that just the Big 12 has really like, he hasn’t played in the sec yet, so it’s just like he doesn’t know what that’s going to completely look like.

Um, so I think that the going to the Big 12 was a big change for him because it just brought, um, the competition was just way higher than what he was experiencing in the Big East. So, um, I think that that’s what he wanted. He just wanted, Higher level competition. He wanted a challenge. And that’s also why he came to the SEC.

Elijah: And, I mean, obviously, Kaluma hasn’t played in just the U. S. strictly. Um, can you describe his [00:11:00] experience playing and competing in the African Leagues?

Lauren: Yeah, so, um, he, his parents are, uh, from Uganda and so he was able to receive his Ugandan citizenship in 2020, um, so because he had that citizenship, he had the ability to go play for their national team.

And he played at the FIBA Afro Basket in the summer of 2021 and then the FIBA World Cup African qualifier fires in the summer of 2022. Um, so, you know, he, he said that he didn’t really get to see Uganda like the country. Um, when he Went to go play for them, but um, he spent time in the airport is what he was like the biggest thing He was like, oh But he just said that like just being across the sea like going in plane internationally was a really good experience for him because he just got to experience different cultures and Get a different view on how other, um, countries play basketball.

Elijah: And in interviewing Kaluma, what were unique parts of his personality, his style of play on the court, things that you thought were unique? him from other players on the team.

Lauren: Yeah. I mean, I would say that as some, like as a personality, his personality is like, he’s very soft spoken. Um, he, uh, Is very like, um, genuine, I think, in, um, like, in how he expresses himself.

Um, but I actually haven’t gotten to see him play, so I’m excited for this first, um, for this first game, for sure. To see if he gets on the court and what his style of play looks like, so.

Elijah: Well, I think I’m excited to see him too. Yeah, yeah. Um. And I, you know, maybe this is obvious, but I would imagine that most senior players, if they’re still, you know, in the game, still competing, uh, they have some hope of going pro.

What are, what is Kaluma hoping to do? Is he hoping to try and enter the National League?

Lauren: I, I actually don’t know. I didn’t ask that question. But, um, I mean, I, I would assume so. Um, I just know that like their goals right now are just focused on this season. And I mean, they, they got to, uh, they had some scouts come a couple of weeks ago to look at them and their, uh, them and their playing style.

So, uh, I don’t know what they, the scouts took away from that and I don’t know if he’s gonna, um, move on to playing for professional basketball. Um, but yeah, we’ll have to see.

Elijah: This has been Lauren Hightower, a senior sports reporter for the Daily Texan. Lauren, thanks for coming on.

Lauren: Thank you.

Elijah: The Texan Recap is a production of the Daily Texan Audio Department. If you liked this episode, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Texan on your streaming platform of choice, and follow us on Twitter at Texan Audio. This episode was hosted by Emma Ricalo and Elijah Karl, and edited by me, Elijah Carll.

Special thanks to Miriam Ahmed and Lauren Hightower for their reporting. Cover art is by Emma Burke and music is by Top Flow Productions. To read the stories in this episode or see more from the Texan, head over to www. thedailytexan. com. Thanks for listening as always, and I’ll see you next week.